Provide

You need to provide yourself with every opportunity to pass the exam. But, I bet you’re asking, “How do I do that?” Keep the following in mind for test success:

• Get information about the state exam. I discuss exam information in detail in Chapter 1, but it’s important enough to repeat some of it here. No matter whether you’re planning to take the salesperson or the broker exam, you need to find out what subjects, both general and state-specific, are on the test. (Take special note of the State-Specific icons throughout this book and the items in Chapter 23 to help you out.) You also want to find out about the exam’s format, the number of questions on it, and the amount of time you have to complete the test. It may be obvious, but find out where and when the exam is given and how to get there. Remember to check out what you need to bring to the exam (and what you may not bring). Whenever you require special arrangements (for example, if you are handicapped or need to bring food into the exam because of a medical condition), find out about that, too.

  So where can you get all of this info? Try contacting your prelicensing course instructor, your state licensing agency, or the testing company that’s been hired to administer the exam.

• Take enough time to study. Regular study, instead of cramming at the last minute, consistently seems to be the best way to approach material like this. What’s more, when you leave your studying to the last minute and some emergency develops (believe me, one usually does), you lose out on what little study time you have left. You don’t have to be fanatical about keeping regular study times and hours. You may want to study half an hour or an hour every night and two or three hours on Saturday or Sunday. The point is, put in regular time during a longer time frame so you can grow more comfortable with the material, including this book, state-specific material, and the textbook for your prelicensing course.
• A quiet place to study. Although having a quiet place to study may seem obvious, it’s worth its own note. Do what you have to, including going to the library if necessary, to crack the books in peace and quiet so you can concentrate and get the most out of your study time.

Review

Reviewing means that you’ve already read the material, which is what I’m assuming here. After you identify specific subject areas on the state exam you plan to take (either the salesperson’s exam or the broker’s), you need to spend time studying those chapters in this book. Then it’s time to review the information, and don’t worry about what you need to review or how. I’ve got the scoop on vocabulary and terms, state license law, and state-specific items.

Evaluate

As you prepare for the state exam, you continually need to evaluate how well you’re mastering the material. The best way to evaluate your progress as you study is to answer the review questions at the end of each chapter.

As you read through the chapters in this book for the first time, you can answer the questions as a review of your reading. Don’t write your answers in the book; use a separate piece of paper. Go over the answers and then reread the sections of each chapter that may be giving you trouble.

After reviewing all the material in the book, particularly the vocabulary and terms, try sitting down with several sheets of paper and answering each chapter’s review questions in order, as if each were a test. You can take whatever time you need, but keep a couple of nights or a weekend afternoon to finish. Just keep answering all the review-question tests one by one until you’ve completed all the chapter questions. Don’t forget to score each test and make a list of your scores in the same order as the chapters. Then you can study the chapters in order of your lowest scores to your highest scores. Do the same with the required course textbook if it has chapter review questions.

Most people have limited amounts of time to devote to studying. Reviewing the real estate exam information in the way I describe in this section enables you to focus your time on the material with which you’re having the most trouble. Just to be safe, review the chapters you do well on, but if you don’t get a chance to, at least you know where to focus your limited time. After reviewing the material in areas where you’re weakest, you can take the review-question exams again, if you like.

Practice

After you review the material, evaluate your weak and strong points, and review the material again, it’s time for a final run-through. Whenever you can schedule two hours or so, sit down with a piece of paper and the writing tool of your choice and take one of the 100-question practice exams toward the end of the book, such as the first one in Chapter 19. Score yourself, and go over the answers to the ones you get wrong (Chapter 20 has the answers). If something isn’t clear, review that section of the book. And don’t stop there. Do it again on another day with the second practice test in Chapter 21; the answers are in Chapter 22. Do this with all four practice exams. If you’ve done everything that I’ve asked you to do so far, in the order that I’ve suggested, I’d be surprised if you don’t do well on the tests. But if your scores still are low, review the material again and then go back on another day and take the practice tests again. Keep doing this until you can pass them all.

You need to be able to find out the length (number of questions) of the state exam and the amount of time you’re allowed to complete it. You can use that info to take a self-timed practice exam that simulates the conditions of the real thing.

Arrive

Someone once said that 80 percent of success is showing up. To ensure that you arrive safely to take your state exam, in good humor, on time, and in the right place, you need to find out where and when the exam is scheduled and how long it takes to get there. With that information in hand, you need to get directions to the exam site (no winging it) and find out if you’re likely to encounter any long waits to getting into the exam and if people routinely are turned away because of overcrowding at the test site. (You can get this information by calling your state licensing agency.)

These factors may vary from one exam site to another, especially if your state offers the exam at more than one location. If your state administers the exam in several locations, pick one that’s most convenient for you, which may mean a little farther away but easier to get to or with better parking. When I took my broker’s exam, I chose to drive farther away to a suburban location instead of taking public transportation to the test site in the city. Do whatever makes you more comfortable and leaves plenty of time to be early. If you live far away from the exam site, consider arriving in the area the night before the exam and staying over.

Relax

Relaxation part one: Relax the night before the exam. Don’t study. Go see an early movie, rent a video, eat a light supper, read a non-real-estate book, and get to bed early. If you regularly meditate, jog, or take long walks, the evening before the exam is a good time for enjoying that kind of activity. Prepare everything you need for the next day, and have it ready to go.

Relaxation part two: Try to stay relaxed on the day of the exam. Eat a light, nourishing breakfast. Get to the test site in plenty of time, and follow the instructions to get a seat. If you can, close your eyes for a few seconds, take a few deep breaths, and remember that no one knows this stuff better than you do. Now sit down and feel yourself relax into the moment of actually taking the exam.

Relaxation part three: Stay relaxed during the test. You may get caught up in the moment, starting to rush and feel pressured. Every 15 or 20 questions, sit up straight, close your eyes, and take one or two deep breaths. Flex your shoulders and hands, and then begin again.

Enjoy

I know what you’re thinking: “How can anyone ever enjoy taking a test?” You’ve studied. You’ve reviewed. You’re relaxed. In short, you’re prepared. In your mind you’ve already passed the exam and are making money working in real estate, maybe even having your own brokerage business in time. I hope you’re getting the picture. Taking and passing the test certainly is a challenge, but it’s one that with the right preparation (which you now have), you can easily meet. You’re ready, and your real estate career awaits you.

It’s all in the timing

The first thing you need to do is something you should have already done during your exam preparation — a little math equation. Divide the total number of minutes you have to complete the exam by the total number of questions. This information is available either from the state licensing authority or from your course instructor. Now figure out some benchmarks for yourself. For example, say your exam has 100 questions, and you get two hours to take the exam. That gives you a little more than a minute per question. At the one-hour mark, you need to have at least 50 questions completed. After the first half-hour you need to have 25 questions finished. You may move faster in some sections and slower in others, but overall you need to maintain the right pace so you don’t leave anything unfinished. Whatever the time frame for your exam, always be aware of how many questions you need to have completed at what point during the exam time. You never want to leave any questions unanswered.

Make sure that you finish the exam, because as an instructor, I can tell you that nothing is more heartbreaking than seeing someone fail an exam because he or she didn’t finish. You see, I know that students usually know the answers to at least a few of those eight or ten questions they never got around to answering, and so they never get full credit for what they actually know.

So how can you avoid this dilemma? Go through the entire exam fairly quickly, question by question, answering only the ones you know right away. Read quickly, not carelessly. Make sure that you spend enough time with each question to understand what it’s asking, and read through all the possible answers. If you get to a question you’re not sure about, eliminating one or two wrong answers can save you time later on. If you’re taking a test on a computer, carefully follow the instructions for skipping questions. After you’ve gone through all the questions once, go back and do all the questions that you skipped. If you’re mathematically challenged, save the math questions for the end. Always remain conscious of the time so you’re not spending too much time on any one question.

Quickly answering the questions you know gives you a couple of advantages. You’re assured that you get to all the questions that you know how to answer correctly, including the ones at the end of the exam. When doing a quick pass over the test, you may find a question near the end that triggers a memory or gives you information that helps you go back and answer an earlier question. For test takers who have a phobia of math, a quick pass over the test enables you to skip the math questions without wasting a lot of time on them. And finally, you have an idea of how much time you have left to spend on the remaining unanswered questions, especially those darn math problems. (For tips on dealing with math questions, see “Number crunching: Tackling math questions” later in this chapter.)

Besides, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised at how many answers you know immediately. And that definitely is a great confidence booster.

The last thing you need to do is actually count all the marks you made on the answer sheet to find out whether that number matches the number of questions on the exam. (If you’re taking the exam on a computer, you need to scan the questions and answers to make sure you’ve answered every one.) In addition, make sure that you don’t fill in two answers for one question. You want to confirm that the answers you choose are aligned correctly with the questions; if you entered something incorrectly, you may have to spend precious minutes fixing everything.

Reading everything carefully

I shouldn’t have to remind you about reading with care, but I’m going to. Read all the material about getting ready for the exam; read about what to bring to the exam; read the directions on the exam itself; and above all, read the exam. And I mean every word of every question and all the possible answers. Give yourself every chance to understand what each question is asking and what each answer is saying.

Remember that exam writers may give you a choice of (A) or (B) that looks really good, but choice (D) nevertheless is the best answer. You won’t know that unless you read everything. Beware of the partially correct answer. An answer has to be completely correct to be the right answer, and only one of the choices is completely correct. On the flip side, you also need to remember that you may encounter questions in which all the answers seem wrong. Nevertheless, one of them is the correct choice. And that answer may very well be the best of a bad lot, so to speak. That’s the one to pick.

Avoiding too much analyzing

Don’t think too much. I know that sounds bizarre, but trust me, it’s good advice especially for students who have some background in one or more of the exam subject areas. I’ve seen students overthink or overanalyze a question to the point of getting themselves tied in knots, selecting the wrong answer, and wasting valuable time. This scenario seems particularly true for people with specific technical backgrounds. Maybe you have a background in environmental science and in answering a question about environmental issues; you can probably come up with ten reasons why all the choices are wrong. Obviously one has to be correct. The level of knowledge provided in this book and in whatever real estate course you take is the level on which you’re tested. So leave all that extra stuff you know at the door. If you’ve studied well for the exam, the answer that first comes to you is usually the best answer. When you start overanalyzing, you may be in trouble.

Guessing

Even with all of your stellar preparation, some questions are just going to throw you for a loop, and yes, you have to guess. When it comes to guessing, find out whether any penalties are assessed for wrong answers. Of course, you lose points for each wrong answer, but through the years exams have been constructed so that a percentage is added onto your wrong answers as a penalty for guessing. I’m guessing that you won’t run into this anywhere on a real estate exam, but you need to check it out just in case. Assuming you won’t be penalized for guessing a wrong answer, when in doubt, guess. Don’t leave anything blank. In fact, the last step you need to take on the exam answer sheet is counting up your answers to make sure that you haven’t left anything blank. (For more about budgeting your test time, see “It’s all in the timing,” earlier in this chapter.)

The key to guessing is to increase your odds of guessing correctly. If you’re given four choices to a question and have no clue as to the correct answer, you have a one-in-four chance of guessing correctly. However, if you can eliminate one or two of the answers as being wrong, you’ve increased your odds of getting the right answer to one in three or one in two. Most Las Vegas gamblers would take those odds anytime.

So how do you eliminate the wrong answers? For starters, if you’re as well prepared as I know you’ll be, the odds are in your favor. You most likely can pick out at least one wrong answer right away. After that, it may get a little tough. Try the following tips:

• Answers with words “always” and “never” often may be eliminated. But be careful: Some things are always true, such as always owing your fiduciary responsibilities to your client. (Check out Chapter 4 for more information.)
• Look for categories of answers. For instance, a question might ask about a landlord’s interest in property. You’ve studied enough to reduce the possibilities to leased fee and leasehold so you’ve increased the odds of getting the correct answer (leased fee) to one in two. (You can check to see whether I’m right in Chapter 12.)
• A specific strategy may work for questions in which the last answer is “All of the above.” If you’re sure that two of the answers are correct, then choose “All of the above” because it’s a good bet that the third answer is also correct.

I’ve seen a number of hints that help people guess at answers. The problem is that in every case, I can write a question that proves the hint wrong. The best way for you to answer exam questions correctly is to study, study, and study some more.

Second-guessing

Never ever change an answer after you’ve written it down. It seems that if you’re well prepared, your mind tends to recognize the correct answer in a multiple-choice question immediately. From my own experience with correcting exams, I can tell you that all too often, I see correct answers erased and changed to wrong ones. I don’t see the opposite as often.

That said, here are two exceptions to the rule:

• If a later question helps you answer an earlier one. Say in question 42 you find information that helps you select a better answer to question 23. By all means, go back and change your answer.
• If you get a different answer when reviewing a problem in the math section of the exam. If you have time, go back and do all the math questions a second time. If any of your answers are different, consider changing them. (For more about math questions, see the next section.)

Number crunching: Tackling math questions

Many test takers find math problems to be the most intimidating of all the questions they have to answer, but keep in mind that the math we’re talking about is stuff you pretty much learned between seventh grade and your freshman year of high school. Memorizing a few formulas and conversion factors and doing lots of practice problems are tremendously helpful in giving you the confidence and knowledge to handle any math question.

For more details about real estate math, check out Chapter 18. Here are a few specific strategies that I give my students for dealing with math questions:

• Don’t waste a lot of time on the math. If you’re truly uncomfortable with math problems, save them until the end, and spend whatever time you have left working on them. Guess if you have to. (See the “Guessing” section earlier in this chapter for the scoop.)
• Do the problem first, and get an answer before you look at the answers. After thinking through the problem, you very well could have the answer correct.
• Read the problem carefully to make sure you’ve done all the steps. Exam writers frequently give you an answer that merely appears correct, but only because you didn’t go far enough into the problem. For example, you may find an answer about area that is correct when written in square feet, but the problem calls for the answer in square yards. Or perhaps an answer needs to be in months, but one of the choices is the correct answer for a year. Don’t forget to divide by 12!
• Go back over the math problems, if you have time. Fingers are big; calculator keys are small. You may write down a number from a calculator, then key it back in incorrectly. You may simply make a mistake. Do each math problem again and try to come up with the same answer twice. It’s a good bet that’s the right answer.